Hand shears for pinking



Dec. 11, 1951 M, WALLA E 2,578,616

HAND SHEARS FOR PINKING Filed June 28, 1949 2 SHEETS--SHEET l Dec. 11, 1951 E. WALLACE 2,578,616

HAND SHEARS FOR PINKING Filed June 28, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Patented Dec. 11, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,578,616 HAND SHEARS For: PINKING Edward M. Wallace, Union, N. 3. Application June 28,1949, Serial No. 101,735 Claims. 01. 30-230) This invention relates to an improved construction of hand shears for pinking or cutting fabrics to provide the same with scalloped edge portions.

, The invention has for its purpose to provide a novel construction of hand operable pinking shears comprising pivotally connected jaw members having integral handle portions extending rearwardly therefrom, and each jaw member having a novel construction of pinking blade separate therefrom but affixed thereto, whereby the jaw members and their handle portions can be produced in cast or forged metal, whereas the pinking blades can be separately produced in hardened and tempered steel, and thereafter can be especially assembled with and in novel forwardly extending fixed attachment to said respective jaw members.

A further object of the invention is to provide a peculiar form and construction of pinking blade so shaped as to provide. a cutting section or body which terminates at its rearward end in an angularly offset butt portion which is turned relative to the plane of the cutting section or body so as to lie in a plane substantially transverse to the plane of the latter, and thus so as to coincide with the plane of a jaw member to which the blade is affixed; whereby, when so aiiixed, the cutting section or body of the blade will lie in a plane substantially transverse and preferably right angular to the vertical plane of the jaw member from which it extends. The novel blades, as thus respectively formed and affixed to the respective jaw members, being further shaped so that their cutting sections or bodies will extend from the outside margins of the jaw members in such longitudinal inclination as to converge one upon the other and meet at their free ends or tips, when in normal closed together relation; the opposed inner marginal portions of the cutting sections or bodies having cooperative serrated cutting edges.

Another object of the invention is to provide novel means for pivotally interconnecting the jaw members of the shears, including resilient means for exerting outward pressure upon the portions thereof rearward of the pivotal connection, whereby to urge the serrated cutting edges of the pinking blades one toward the other, and thus in close mutual contact during the cooperative shearing movements and action thereof.

An illustrative embodiment of this invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which;

Fig. 1 is a face view of the pinking shears according to this invention, shown in closed condition; Fig. 2 is an edge elevational view of the same; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view, taken on line 33 in Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 is a fragmentary face view of the pinking shears, shown in open condition.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view, taken on line 5-5 in Fig. 1, but drawn on an enlarged scale; and Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional view, taken on line 6-6 in Fig. 5.

Fig. '7 is a view similar to that of Fig. 5, showing a modified construction, this view being drawn on a reduced scale.

Fig. 8 is an inside face view of one of the shear elements comprising a jaw member and pinking blade assembled in operative aflixed relation thereto.

Similar characters of reference are employed in the above described views, to indicate corresponding parts.

Referring to the drawings, the pinking shears according to this invention comprises a pair of flat and comparatively broad jaw members Ill and l l respectively provided with handle portions I2 and i3 extending rearwardly therefrom. The jaw members I0 and II are adapted to be superposed with the planes of their broad faces substantially parallel, and then pivotally connected by a pivot bolt [4 in manner well known with respect, to cutting shear structures. The jaw members and their handle portions are adapted to be produced in either cast or forged metal.

Formed in the inner broad face of the jaw member I0 is a recessed seat l5, which terminates at its forward end in an oblique or diagonally disposed forward portion l6 which opens outwardly from the outer side margin I! of the jaw member Iii. Adapted to be afiixed to the jaw member I 0 is a pinking blade A of novel form, construction and disposition, which can be separately produced in hardened and tempered steel. Said pinking blade is in the form of an elongated completely flat member of substantial thickness and rigidity comprising a cutting sectionor body l8 which terminates at its rearward end in a butt portion i9. This butt portion is offset from the cutting section or body i8 by an oblique or diagonally disposed connecting portion 20, the outer part of which, where it joins the cutting section or body [8, being turned 01' twisted as at 2 I whereby to dispose said cutting,

To assemble the pinking blade thus formed in operative afiixed relation to the jaw member ID, the butt portion I9 of the blade is laid within the recessed seat l of said jaw member, with the oblique or diagonally disposed portion of said butt portion seated in the forward portion ll; of the seat l5, and so as to project from the outer side margin ll of the jaw member ID. When the blade is thus assembled with the jaw member, the turned or twisted portion 2i of the former will be disposed exteriorly of but adjacent to the outer side margin I! of the latter, thereby disposing the cutting section or body [8 of the blade in forward longitudinal extension from the jaw member, but inaplane substantially right angular to the vertical plane of the jaw member ID. The blade and jaw member being thus related so that the butt portion IQ of the former lies in the recessed seat of the latter, the depth of which seat corresponds to the thickness of the butt portion, said butt portion is afiixed to and so as to become unitary with the jaw member, as by welding, brazing or otherwise joining these parts together.

The jaw member I I is also provided in its inner broad face with a recessed seat which terminates at its forward end in an oblique or diagonally disposed forward portion 26 which opens outwardly from the outer side margin 21 of jaw member H. Adapted to be afiixed to the jaw member l I is a pinking blade B corresponding in form to the above described pinking blade A, and thus comprising a cutting section or body 28, a butt portion 29 having an oblique connecting portion 39 having a turned or twisted part 3| by which the cutting section or body 28 is joined to the butt portion 29, whereby to dispose said cutting section or body 28 in a plane substantially right angular to the plane of the butt portion.

The pinking blade B is affixed in operative assembled relation to the jaw member H in the same manner as above described as to the assembly of pinking blade A with the jaw member ID, and to this end the butt portion 29 of blade B is laid within the recessed seat 25 of jaw member II with the oblique extension 30 of said butt portion seated in the forward portion 26 of seat 25, so as to project from the outer side margin 2'! of jaw member H. When blade B is thus assembled with jaw member H, the turned or twisted part 3| of the former will be disposed exteriorly of but adjacent to the outer side margin 21' of the latter, thereby disposing the cutter section or body 28 of the blade in forward longitudinal extension from jaw member H, but in a plane substantially right angular to the vertical plane of said jaw member. The blade B and jaw member H being thusrelated, the butt portion 29 of the former is affixed to and so as to become unitary with the latter, as by welding, brazing or otherwise joining these parts together.

When the jaw members l0 and II, with the respective pinking blades A and B affixed thereto, are pivotally connected together by the pivot bolt [4, the inner longitudinal margins of the cutting sections or bodies of the blades will be opposed one to the other. Referring to Fig. 5, it will be noted that butt sections [9-29 of blades A and B are of sufficient thickness to provide adequate bearing surface on bolt M without additional bearing means. Said cutting sections or bodies 18 and 28 of the blades are pr= vided along their inner longitudinal margins with complementary serrations or teeth 32 of suitable shape which thus lie in the respective planes of said cutting sections or bodies. In other words, each cutting section and its teeth constitute a one-plane structure with no angular deformation whatever. These serrations or teeth 32, when the blades are relatively moved by the pivotal movements of the jaw members, will intel-engage with shearing or cutting effect at all points where the opposed cutting sections or bodies is and 23 intersect during their relative movements. Said serrations or teeth 32 are disposed transverse to and so as to intersect a vertical plane extending intermediate and parallel to the opposed inner faces of the jaw members I0 and H.

The cutting sections or bodies [8 and 28 of the blades are so shaped and related to the jaw members from which they extend, as to incline longitudinally inward from the outside margins of the jaw members, so that, when the shears are closed, said cutting sections or bodies will converge one upon the other with their free ends or tips in meeting relation substantially in the vertical plane extending intermediate and parallel to the inner faces of the jaw members [0 and H (see Fig. 1).

In a preferred form of the pinking shears as shown, the jaw members [0 and H are respectively provided with forwardly extending flat blade bracing portions 33 and 34 disposed substantially in the respective planes thereof. These blade bracing portions respectivelyextend along the inner faces of the cutting sections or bodies 18 and 28 of the blades, so that the side margins of the bracing portions, which oppose the blades, abut against the blade faces, whereby said bracing portions are adapted to support and brace the blades against back pressure during cutting action of the latter. The inner faces 35 and 36 of said bracing portions 33 and 34 are cut back or stepped outwardly relative to the inner faces of the jaw members from which they extend, whereby the bracing portions engage the blades back of the lines of serrations or teeth 32, and thus clear said serrations or teeth so as not to interfere with the cutting action thereof (see Fig. 2).

Another feature of the pinking shears of this invention is the provision of novel combined jaw member spacing and pinking blade tensioning means. To this end, the butt portion of one of the pinking blades, as e. g. the butt portion 29 of pinking blade B, is foreshortened so as to be spaced from the rear end of the seat 25 of jaw member H, whereby to provide in connection with the latter an open recess or pocket 40 which is spaced rearwardly from the pivot bolt [4. Preferably, the rear end of this recess or pocket is bounded by centrally convergent end walls 4|, so that the recess or pocket is of triangular shape. A perforate spacer plate 42 is disposed between the opposed faces of the jaw members it and II so that the pivot bolt [4 extends therethrough. This spacer plate 42 extends rearwardly from the pivot bolt I4 with its rearward free end portion disposed to overhang the recess or pocket 49. The rear extremity of the spacer plate is shaped to provide convergent end edges conforming to the convergent rear end walls 4| of the recess or pocket 40, and dependent from said rear edges into the recess or pocket are keeper fianges 43. These keeper flanges 43 cooperate with the rear end walls 4| of the recess or pocket 40 so as to retain the spacer plate against rotative displacement about the axis of the pivot bolt [4. sup:

ported within the recess or pocket 40 ,is a compressible resilientbody '44, such e.'g. as, ablock of soft rubber. This resilient body 44 is adapted to exert an outward yieldable or tensional thrust against the rear end of the spacer plate 42. If desired, a wear block 45 of metal or other hard material may be interposed between the resilient body 44 and the spacer plate 42. The tens'ional pressure and thrust exerted by the resilient body 44 upon the rear'end portion of the spacer plate 42 tends to outwardly flex the latter, with the effect of thrusting or swinging the rearward portions of the jaw members [0 and H apart relative to the pivot bolt I I as a fulcrum, and thus thrusting or swinging together the forward portions of the jaw members and the pinkin-g blades extending therefrom. The effct'of this action urges the serrated cutting edges of the pinking blades one toward the other, thus assuring close shearing cooperation thereof when the blades are moved from open to closed relation. Such action is of maximum effect as the pinking blades approach closed condition, thus assuring effective shearing action of the blades as their outer free or tip end portions are closed one upon the other.

A modification of the combined spacing and blade tensioning means is shown in Fig. 7, wherein the rear end of the spacer plate 42 terminates in a resilient spring arm 46 which is entered into the recess or pocket 40. so as to bear upon and thrust against the bottom of the latter. It will be obvious that this arrangement will also rock the jaw members Ill and II about the pivot bolt M as a fulcrum, with the desired effect of urging the serrated cutting edges of the pinking blades together for efficient cooperative shearing action.

While it is preferred to provide the novel pinking shears of this invention in the form which includes the blade bracing portions 33 and 34 as shown, and as above described, it is nevertheless practical to omit said blade bracing portions, especially with respect to shears of the smaller sizes, or with respect to shears desired to be of minimum weight. This is possible for the reason that the novel form of the pinking blades A and B, and the novel connected relation thereof to the jaw members I0 and II, assures blades of sufficient rigidity as to be entirely practical. The desired rigidity of blades A and B and particularly the cutting sections thereof is greatly increased by the provision of twist 2| in connecting portion 20.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that this invention provides hand operable pinking shears of novel make u which can be produced at low cost, since blades per se may be separately produced, and the teeth milled thereon before assembling the blades with the jaw members, all of which readily lends itself to efficient and low cost mass production methods. The jaw members with their handle portions being initially separate from the blades, may also be produced in cheaper metal and also processed by low cost mass production method ready for assembly with the blades.

Having now described my invention, I claim:

1. Pinking shears comprising a pair of pivotally connected flat and broad jaw members assembled with the planes of the broad faces thereof substantially parallel, each jaw member having a recessed seat in a broad face thereof terminating at its forward end in an angular portion leading to the outer side margin of the jaw member, pinking blades in the form of elongated fiat members of substantial thickness and rigidity from the respective jaw members, each blade,

cutting section having a butt portion conforming to and fixedly mounted in the seat of a jaw member, whereby the rearward end of the cut-, ting section lies adjacent to the outer side margin of the jaw member from which it extends, and a twisted portion connecting said cutting section with its butt portion, whereby the cutting section is disposed in a plane substantially at right angles to the plane of the jaw member from which it extends.

2. Pinking shears comprising a pair of pivotally connected flat and broad jaw members assembled withthe planes of the broad faces thereof substantially parallel, each jaw member having a recessed seat in a broad face thereof terminating at its forward end in an angular portion leading to the outer side margin of the jaw member, pinking blades in the form of elongated fiat members of substantial thickness and rigidity having cutting sections for forward extension from the respective jaw members, each blade cutting section having a butt portion conforming to and fixedly mounted in the seat of a jaw member, whereby the rearward end of the cutting section lies adjacent to the outer side margin of the jaw member from which it extends, a twisted portion connecting said cutting section with its butt portion, whereby the cutting section is disposed in a plane substantially at right angles to the plane of the jaw member from which it extends, inner margins of the blade cutting sections being opposed and having complementary cutting teeth lying in the respective planes of said cutting sections and adapted to cooperate with shearing effect when said cutting sections are relatively moved.

3. Pinking shears as defined in claim 1, including fiat bracing portions extending respectively from the forward ends of the respective jaw members substantially in the respective planes thereof and disposed in edgewise abutment against inner faces of the blade cutting sections.

4. Pinking shears as defined in claim 2, including flat bracing portions extending respectively from the forward ends of the respective jaw members substantially in the respective planes thereof and disposed in edgewise abutment against inner faces of the blade cutting sections and inwardly of the cutting teeth of the latter.

5. Pinking shears comprising a pair of pivotally connected fiat and broad jaw members assembled with the broad face planes thereof substantially parallel, and pinking blades in the form of elongated flat members of substantial thickness and rigidity having cutting sections for forward extension from .the respective jaw members, each blade having a butt section afiixed to the corresponding jaw member with its broad faces parallel to the planes of said jaw members, the butt section of each blade being joined to the cutting section thereof by a twisted connecting portion so constructed and arranged that said cutting section lies adjacent to the outer side margin of the jaw member from which it extends and is disposed in a plane at right angles to the plane of said jaw member.

6. Pinking shears as defined in claim 5, wherein the butt sections of the pinking blades are interposed between the jaw members.

7. Pinking shears as defined in claim 5, including flat bracing portions extending respectively from the respective jaw members substantially in the respective planes thereof and disposed in 7 eage'wise abutment against the inner broad faces of the respective pinking blades.

8. Pinking shears as defined in claim 7, wherein the cutting section of each pinking blade is of a width exceeding the thickness of the bracing ortion of the corresponding jaw member and has cutting teeth projecting laterally from the outer margin of said bracing portion for operative engagement with the complementary cutting teeth of the other pinking blade.

9. A pinking blade for shears comprising an elongated flat member of substantial thickness and rigidity having a cutting section and a butt section joined to said cutting section by a twisted connecting portion whereby the cutting section is turned about the longitudinal axis of the bladeat right angles to the plane of the butt section.

10. A pinking blade for shears as defined in claim 9, wherein the cutting section is completely flat and has pinking teeth out in a longitudinal I marginal edge thereof so as to lie in the plane of said cutting section.

EDWARD M. WALLACE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

